Scuba Scuba Scuba….

One of the only plans we have, that we are determined to stick to, is learning to Scuba Dive in Thailand. The plan is to learn up to dive master level and hopefully look at potential jobs or failing that just be confident enough to dive the spots that follow Thailand to their potential.

Creative Commons License photo credit: magnusfranklin

The idea first popped into our heads whilst we were on holiday in Tenerife. It was nearing the end of the week and we thought we could spend the last of our money on a day of diving. After a bit of thought we decided that we would wait until we got home and spend the money on learning to dive rather than just a single dive session.

From pretty much the moment we got home I started to look into different dive course and whether there were any PADI registered dive shops in Lincoln. It turns out there were two that were just a couple of miles away which somehow both of us never noticed before. We decided that it would be good to get open water certified before going off on our travels. This would give us the basics which we could take further once we are somewhere with a bit more than a dumped shopping trolley to look at.

We started the open water course last August, we turned up at the pool to find one of my mates was also enrolled, he was peparing for a holiday a month or so later that hosted some rather special dive sites. The first session went great but unfortunately I wasn’t going to be able to make it back for the second. During the week whilst cycling home from work, a lovely lady decided to come running out of her house straight into the side of me. I landed on my elbow and had to go to A&E, my elbow was split wide open and I was told to avoid getting it wet for a few weeks and unfortunately water is quite important for scuba diving.

Poi all kitted up for diving!

Since then Kirsty has been on a work drive in order to finish University (next week she gets her results) which meant we weren’t in the same city a lot of the time. To complete the course we needed four consecutive weekends which we still haven’t found a year on. This has meant that we have has to abandon getting open water certified for now at least.

The guys at the scuba shop said it was against their policy to give us a refund (bastards) but we managed to get them to give us the money we had paid for the course to spend in their shop. So we haven’t completely wasted the money and now we have the basics we need to get started: snorkel, mask, fins and boots, in Kirsty’s case, all in purple.

After looking into the courses we want to do in Thailand I think this has probably worked out better for us. The price difference from open water or from scratch to dive master is similar. It also means that we can go all the way with the same instructors. We’re still looking at which dive school we would like to sign up to. At the moment we are thinking about big blue or crystal dive on Koh Toa, but this has changed quite a few times in the last few months. Have any of you guys completed any diving courses in Thailand? Where would you suggest?

All that’s left now is to make sure we don’t die before we make it to Thailand……

One step ahead, for my 21st birthday i got the olumpus muji tough 8000. shock proof from a drop of 2 metres, waterproof down to ten and dustproof. i think it is freeze proof also! I’m really bad at looking after things so it is perfect!

Please don’t die before you get to Thailand. You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced it. I’ve never dived- asthma issues, ear drum issues but most of all just a big scaredy cat!!
So I can’t advise you on diving but I do know that Koh Tao is beautiful and super chilled. We went snorkeling there and I snorkeled past my first reef shark and surprisingly did not freak out. i loved it. Koh Tao is super relaxed. We had friends who raved about the diving there and in fact returned to get married there under water. Enjoy for me!Caz Makepeace´s last blog post ..What Name Do you Go By on Your Travels?

I’m very accident prone, but they tend to be just broken limbs etc. so i hold great hopes of living to see in 2011 on a nice little thai island. I’m looking forward to chilling out for a couple of months in one place. 🙂

Hi, we're Poi and Kirsty! Join us as we try to create the perfect life for ourselves doing what we love. There will be diving, skiing, teaching and more as we travel the world trying new things and having fun along the way. Want the full story?